


find adventure in the evening air

by couldaughter



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: First Dates, Fluff, M/M, Oblivious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-04-12 03:19:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4463453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/couldaughter/pseuds/couldaughter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p></p><blockquote>
  <p>“Hi, Bittle,” said Jack, leaning against the doorway. “You free?”</p>
  <p>“Sure am,” said Bitty, operating on autopilot while his brain screamed at him. “What are you thinking?”</p>
  <p>“Well, it’s Winter Screw tonight.”</p>
</blockquote><br/>Eric Bittle could make Being Oblivious a spectator sport, and the Winter Screw is attended.
            </blockquote>





	find adventure in the evening air

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tiptoes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiptoes/gifts).



Jack showing up at the Haus the day of Winter Screw had been a surprise, to say the least.

The doorbell rang just as Bitty was pulling a maple pie out of the oven, which he would later pin on his subconscious knowing something was up.

Chowder answered the door. His voice was up several octaves when he said, “Jack! What are you doing here? Not that you being here isn’t swawesome, man, I mean, I’ve missed you and everything, but...”

Bitty was out into the hallway almost before he realised it.

Jack looked good. Really good. Bitty nearly dropped the pie.

“Hi, Bittle,” said Jack, leaning against the doorway. “You free?”

“Sure am,” said Bitty, operating on autopilot while his brain screamed at him. “What are you thinking?”

“Well, it’s Winter Screw tonight.”

Bitty dropped the pie.

Chowder looked like he was about to cry. Jack patted him on the back, then moved to the stairs. He lifted his backpack enticingly. “Want to help me pick an outfit, Bittle?”

“You brought more than one outfit? Oh my stars, I finally get through to you and I don’t get to enjoy it for six months.”

\---

Winter Screw was kind of a sore point for Bitty. His first year at Samwell, Ransom and Holster had set him up with a nice boy from the rugby team but he’d felt so criminally awkward all evening he’d barely managed to talk to him. Said nice boy had been very kind about it, and they’d gone for coffee, but it never really went anywhere.

His second year had been a bust. He'd thought about going for about five seconds before giving up and staying in to help Lardo with her latest art project - a giant bunny made entirely of barbed wire and red yarn. He still wasn't sure what it was supposed to represent. The problem with going to the dance, he'd decided at the time, was that he would've spent the whole time wishing he was anywhere else instead of talking to whichever cute boy Ransom and Holster found, like he had the first time around. The whole straight boy crush situation was tough on everyone.

That straight boy crisis was entirely the fault of one Jack Zimmermann, currently resident of the passenger seat of Lardo’s truck, and very soon to be Bitty’s plus one to the Winter Screw. Well, not that the Winter Screw was formal enough to have plus ones.

“We don’t have to do this, you know.”

Bitty shrugged. “No, I want to go. You drove up from Providence for this, and I’m not gonna kick a hockey star out on his rear.” He elbowed Jack in the side, grinned up at him.

Jack smiled back. “Just wanted to give you an out, Bittle.” He looked out of the windscreen at the Winter Screw banner that had been hung lopsided on the auditorium. “Alright, let’s go.”

\---

“How’s the team?” Jack asked, leaning in close to be heard over the crowd. Jack was wearing his second best jeans on Bitty’s advice, which he would never reveal was based on how good Jack’s ass looked in them. 

“Fine!” Bitty yelled, clutching his solo cup like a protective shield against the world. “Wow, it’s kind of loud in here.”

“It really is,” said Jack, still barely inches from Bitty’s ear. "Glad to hear the team's alright. How's Ransom dealing?"

"About as well as he does with finals," which was to say, not well at all. Bitty had figured out that forcing Ransom to help him clean the kitchen every so often did wonders for both their stress levels. "But he's getting better! We're all good at dragging him out of his room when he gets stuck making plays and nearly gets rickets."

Jack laughed. "I was the same way. You learn to deal with it, eventually."

"I sure hope he does!" Bitty winced as the music somehow got even louder. "I wouldn't even enjoy Bey at these decibels, lord."

“We could go sit on the field? Unless you want to dance to, uh, is this Nicki Minaj?”

Clearly his continued attempt to force pop culture knowledge on Jack had paid off. “It’s Superbass, so I’ll take you up on the field.” They started edging around the room, keeping to the wall to avoid all the students getting down on the dance floor. Bitty shimmied his hips a little, because it was _Nicki_ , and if he didn’t dance at all he’d feel like he’d betrayed her somehow.

Jack was looking at him weirdly, when he looked up from throwing his solo cup in the garbage. “What?”

Jack smiled. “Nothing, Bittle.”

\---

Dusk had been around three hours before the Screw even started, but the football field had its floodlights on so they weren’t outside in total darkness.

Bitty shivered in the cool evening air, regretting his choice of a light jacket and thus fashion over practicality. 

“Hey, you ok?” 

“Oh, I’m fine,” Bitty said. “Just wishin’ I brought a better coat.”

He was surprised to find Jack’s arm around his shoulders, tugging him into his side. “That better?”

“...Yes?” Bitty leaned into Jack, who was apparently a human space heater. “What’s got into you, Mr Zimmermann?”

Jack shrugged. “You were cold, now you’re not. I’d be a pretty bad date if I just let you freeze to death on a football field, Bittle.”

Bitty’s ability to process words had broken around the word ‘date’. 

He laughed quietly to cover it up. “Better be careful or I’ll steal all of your heat, mister.”

“I’ll be on the lookout.”

They sat in silence for a while.

“Look, Jack, not to be rude but… why are you here?” Bitty turned his head. Jack wasn’t looking at him, his face turned up to look at what stars were visible through the light pollution. His jawline kind of made Bitty want to cry.

“Can’t an ex-captain check up on his teammates?”

“Sure, but most of ‘em wouldn’t invite their linemates to the winter dance, hotshot.”

“Maybe you’re just special, Bitty.” Jack was facing him now, smiling gently. 

Bitty kissed him.

Jack kissed back, which surprised Bitty more than anything. 

Eventually Bitty remembered he needed to breathe, and they stopped.

“Okay,” said Bitty, smiling helplessly. “How long has that been a thing?”

Jack lifted one shoulder, dropped it. “A while. Didn’t realise until I graduated, though.”

“Oh my god,” Bitty said, realisation dawning. “We could have been doing this for _months_? I thought you were straight this whole time, you realise that, right?”

“I guess so,” said Jack, leaning back on his forearms. “Might not have worked out. Conflict of interest, being on the same team and all.” He paused. "And no, I didn't."

“If you insist, Jack.”

There was another, more natural pause. “It’s getting late,” Jack said suddenly. “Want to get back to the Haus?”

“We’ve got a sofa bed now,” Bitty replied. “You could test it out.”

Jack grinned again, and Bitty wondered how he’d missed this side of him for two and a half years. “If you insist, Eric.”

**Author's Note:**

> you could honestly have jack zimmermann down on one knee asking eric richard bittle to marry him and bitty would say 'wow, you're such a great friend jack, it's a shame you're a heterosexual'
> 
> anyway this is for claire, who got me into this hell webcomic and is my archnemesis but also deserves nice things, like jack and bitty making out at a football field in the middle of the night
> 
> title is from put on your sunday clothes from hello dolly, because Why Not.
> 
> catch me on [tumblr](http://dotsayers.tumblr.com) if you want to chat, or what have you


End file.
